The River Runs Dry by L. A. Shorter Page B

dripping from so many wounds into puddles on the floor. Opposite her the other girl still sat motionless, blood seeping from her empty eye sockets and onto her clothes. It settled to the hardwood floor and trickled towards her friend. Soon their blood would meet in the middle. The last connection between two friends...
    A heavy rumble sounded suddenly.
    The man's heart almost shot through his chest as a sound came from outside. It was loud, the noise of an engine pulling up. Without a second thought he pounced over to the unconscious girl and jammed the knife deep into her empty eye socket, feeling the blade slice into her brain. Her body jarred and then went limp again as the sound of whimpering increased behind him.
    He turned to see the other girl, her face and body cut up beyond recognition, screaming as loud as she could under her taped mouth. She tilted her chair and it fell once more to the ground with a heavy thud, just as the killer moved towards her.
    Then there was a sound at the door, the sound of a key coming into the lock and a heavy grunting sound outside. He dropped the knife in an instant and stepped quickly through to the back of the house as the front door opened.
    As he opened the back door and slinked off into the night he heard the most pained howl that had ever reached his ears, the loud roar of a man that echoed around the neighborhood.
    But all it did, as he casually walked away down the street, was bring a smile to his face. A cold, heartless smile.

Chapter 12
    Jack had only just managed to settle into a troubled sleep when his phone began blazing on his bedside table.
    His eyes didn't take time to open and wake. They were open in a shot as his hand reached quickly for the cellphone and thrust it to his ear.
    “Jack Slade,” he said, his voice already alert.
    “Jack, it's Carla. You need to get down to Plainview immediately. Station Road, you'll see the cars.”
    Jack didn't need to ask what was going on, he was already up and stepping into his pants, but Carla told him anyway.
    “There's been another murder, two girls.”
    “Two? A double murder?” asked Jack quickly, his phone now on speaker as he pulled on a shirt.
    “No Jack, not yet anyway. One's still alive.”
    With those words Jack's movements quickened and he shot off out of his apartment and into his unmarked car. It was late, past 3 in the morning now, and the streets were almost empty, so there was no need for his siren.
    Plainview was one of the better off neighborhoods in town, over in the south western corner and near the main road towards the more populous area of the state. But it was quiet there, the houses larger and with more land. Jack only had to hope that, this time, they could get something on this guy.
    It took him about ten minutes to reach the house, down towards the end of Station Road. There were already several police cars there, as well as a large pick-up truck parked outside. There was an ambulance, too, the back of it open as a person was being placed into it on a stretcher. A man walked by it's side, tears rolling down his cheeks as he stared down at the girl. He looked to be middle aged. It must have been his daughter.
    Jack was quickly out of his car and storming in towards the house. The CSI team weren't there yet, so the place had been cordoned off by the Sheriff's office. Jack flashed his badge and passed straight through, seeing Carla lingering in near the doorway.
    She turned as she heard Jack enter: “Jack..”
    “When are the CSI team getting here?” Jack asked quickly.
    “Soon. They should be here any minute.”
    “Right,” Jack said, walking past her and straight into view of the sight ahead of them. There was a girl, tied up to a chair, her eyes and hair cut as before, blood pooling at her feet. Her head hung down, lifeless, blood still trickling slowly from her eyes. Opposite was another chair, blooded tape cut around the legs and arms. It must have been where the other girl was sat,